


Strong Armed

by Homorobotic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Cursed Storybrooke (Once Upon a Time), Hurt, Light Angst, Past Abuse, Past Violence, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:14:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homorobotic/pseuds/Homorobotic
Summary: Mr.Gold has known Dr.Hopper a long time, but a fleeting interaction makes him realize he knows little about the younger man.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Strong Armed

Mr.Gold realized at that moment he had never seen Dr.Hopper without sleeves. Honestly it was a bizarre thing for the pawnbroker to realize let alone care about, but nonetheless he did.  
It happened one particularly frosty day in Storybrooke. Mr.Gold had received a new shipment of antiquities outside his shop, though he had managed to piss off the delivery man the previous week, he can’t even remember what he said or did. Regardless, by the time he reached the door the driver had already gotten back into his truck and he was left yelling obscenities at the back of the retreating vehicle.  
“Is everything okay Mr.Gold?”  
It was a worried voice that came from behind him. He didn’t even need to try to place the voice, there was no mistaking who the soft tone came from. There was only one person in the town who could ask that of Mr.Gold, and sound completely sincere.  
“No, Dr.Hopper. It seems that Storybrooke’s manual workers seem to become more inept by the day.” Gold whipped around to face the man in question.  
Archie was barely able to conceal a wince at that particularly insensitive choice of words, he instead elected to look down at his dog who was more preoccupied with wanting attention from this newcomer. The doctor looked up again, his professional mask firmly in place once more. He smiled kindly yet expectantly. He was not easily perturbed nor thrown off by harsh language, he knew it to be almost always a self defense mechanism. Nor was he as easily intimidated as the rest of Storybrooke seemed to be by the rich older man. It was a moment of silence followed by a sigh before he elaborated.  
“The delivery man seems to think that I’ll be able to bring in this shipment, with the sidewalk being this icy, and my leg being.. less than useful.”  
“I can bring it in for you, if you wouldn’t mind.” Archie responded without missing a beat. Mr.Gold had to stop himself and just looked at him for a moment completely confused as to what he just said. There was no feasible way to which the former cricket could twist his situation, at least not in a major way. To be fair lifting a box wasn’t a huge favor, well to most of the population, but for Mr.Gold it was large enough, maybe the doctor knew, sensed that weakness. On the other hand he might be trying to get on the good side of his landlord. In either event, the villain refused to be seen as weak.  
“That’s not quite necessary, Dr.Hopper, I can manage.”  
“Nonsense, it’s no problem. If you could hold Pongo’s leash, and my umbrella for a second..” Archie held out the possessions, and Mr.Gold took them with his free hand, albeit hesitantly. Pongo was happy to get closer to the landlord. He opened the door, propping it open for the doctor, then proceeded inside with Dalmatian in tow.  
Mr.Gold turned to find Dr.Hopper easily lifting and moving the box. It was obvious that the box was either much lighter than the pawnbroker thought, or more likely, the doctor was stronger than he let on.  
“Where should I put it?”  
“Set it down on the counter right here.”  
Mr.Gold watched as he set the box down, his shirt, which he obviously forgot to button the cuffs of, were pushed up by the shifting box giving Mr.Gold a look at what lay underneath.  
“Do you need anymore help moving anything?”  
“What happened to your arms?” He didn’t mean to even say anything, the question slipped out of his mouth before he even had time to stop it. It wasn’t Mr.Gold asking the question, it was Rumplestiltskin. The Rumpelstiltskin before the magic, the father inside of him. A part, though not often in use, drove almost all of his actions. Even though in this realm both him and the doctor were close in age, he still was older.  
He blamed the age difference for the reaction, but he knew it was something deeper, something he wished not to dwell on much further.  
He looked up at the doctor who had quickly brought his arms to his sides, sheathing the flesh. He took a step back from the counter, red and flustered. He wanted to be out of this situation as soon as possible but he didn’t want to-- couldn’t be rude. No, he couldn’t just harshly push away Mr.Gold not after the tone of voice that he used could have been mistaken for concern. Yet at the same time he didn’t know what to say, if there was anything to say at all. He looked for Pongo for help but he was laying content at his landlord’s feet. Traitor.  
Archie wanted to follow his own advice, in being open and honest about his past, but it was difficult when he could feel his arms scream from the memories.  
“My arms were...” swallowing, clearing his throat, anything to get that choking feeling to go away. “Something that..happened a long time ago.” He knew he was being irrational, but he felt as though he was about to cry, to fall apart.  
“Thank you, Dr.Hopper.” He was dismissed, he knew the thank you was for the boxes, but he couldn’t help but feel there was something else to it.  
“No problem Mr.Gold. If you need anything you know how to find me.”  
“Yes, I do. I also owe you a favor.”  
“No need Mr.Gold, don’t ever feel like you owe me anything.”  
And with that the strange man left with his spotted beast. Neither therapist nor shopkeeper could shake the peculiar interaction from their mind for the rest of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> I have only planned for one chapter, so please let me know if you would like more chapters with ideas as to where it might go, if not this will remain a one shot. Thanks for reading!


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